Urban partnership approaches: a WSUP update

The challenge of providing basic services to the urban poor is enormous, and past sectoral approaches have had limited impact on the coverage statistics. WSUP – water & sanitation for the urban poor – is a unique partnership organisation that aims to support and strengthen local service providers to meet this challenge at scale, and in a sustainable way. This paper provides an overview of the WSUP model, and presents some achievements to date. Local Service providers are being supported in a number of innovative ways to build organisational capacity and improve planning and pro-poor implementation policies. An interesting aspect of the partnership approach is the distinctive governance arrangements that have evolved, with a Steering Committee set up in each city where WSUP is working. These committees have formed differently in each location, reflecting the prevailing operational practicalities. A few specific challenges and lessons are presented.